Dreaming the Past
by XxLonelyShadowSpiritxX
Summary: Mai dreams of a woman who dies in more ways than one. This woman is part of someones past. Naru eventually finds out about the dreams. What will he make of it? Their relationship blooms however there will be many hardships to overcome. Will they get through these hardships or will the hardships keep them apart? Rated K for now, may change later on. Read and Review. *ON HOLD*
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first Ghost Hunt fanfic so I hope you enjoy it. No flames please. Constructive criticism is appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

_Quiet footsteps padded down the hall accompanied by the swishing of a long silk gown. A young woman with long black hair, a heart shaped face made little noise as she calmly walked away._

_A low jingling noise was made as she slid keys into the locked door._

_A quiet click as the door opened._

_Pausing a moment she turned checking that it was safe. She had always liked sneaking out at night to stand under the starlit sky on the night of a full moon. Nodding to herself she opened the door and slipped outside, turning to lock the door behind her. With a careful elegance she stood at the point of the pathways, deciding which way to go. With another nod she avoids the walkway to the garden intent on heading towards the beach._

Not much could be done now. It was only a matter of time.

_The hem of her long silk midnight sapphire dress slid across the gravel, wiping away the evidence of footprints as she drew closer to the beach. Sand shifted as a cool ocean breeze blew over it in the dark. The young woman glided along the gravel path, like she did every month on a full moon._

_The large moon hung high in the sky nestled amidst the stars glowing brightly. The darkness surrounded her like a deep velvet cloak. The air was clear and fresh, not a cloud to be seen. Owls hooted, cicadas chirped and the mice scurried about their usual business. The sea breeze brushed through the tree leaves making them rustle softly in the almost silent night._

_As the woman arrived at her destination, a sandy cliff high above the crashing waves, she was unaware of the eyes watching her from a small distance. The dark presence approached, its hands land heavily on her shoulders startling her. She turns and gasps; before she could do what she came to do she was shoved off the cliff, a scream erupting from her mouth as she tumbled through the air. The ocean below suddenly turned turbulent and clouds rolled across the sky. Rain started pouring down, lightning flashing and thunder booming. The malevolent eyes watched, from the spot where she previously stood, with glee as she hit the pointed rocks below with a barely audible but sickening crunch._

_Morbidly delighted laughter permeated the air._

_"SHE'S FINALLY DEAD!" The man who had been watching her shouted in delight._

Mai woke in a cold sweat, her heart pounding frantically in her chest. She looked at the alarm clock by her bed.

_Only 3.30am._

She sighed and laid her head back on her pillow hoping to get some more sleep. After an hour of tossing and turning in her bed she got up, heading to the kitchen. She hoped a cup of tea would soothe her nerves.

As she drank her tea she contemplated what the dream may have been about before deciding to write it down in a notebook. When she had finished writing down the dream she decided to take a shower and have breakfast. It was the weekend and she was working today.

_"At least Naru won't be able to complain about me being late today."_ She thought as she relaxed. Switching the shower off twenty minutes later, she got dressed. By the time she was cooking breakfast it was six thirty in the morning, after eating she collected her things and pulled on her shoes before locking the door and heading to S.P.R.

Lin looked up as the door to the office opened. He was surprised to see Mai enter. She was never usually early. She looked up.

"Good morning Lin."

"Good morning Mai. You're early today." Lin replied

"Yeah, I woke up early. Bad dream." Mai said as a way of explanation.

Lin nodded and raised an eyebrow to which he received a small shrug from the young girl. Lin walked back into his office, closing the door behind him. Mai wandered over to her desk and deposited her things before heading to the kitchen. She set about preparing three tea cups as the kettle boiled.

Placing the cups of tea onto a tray she took one to Lin first before going to Naru's office. Knocking on the door she opened it and walked in, putting his tea next to him on his desk. She turned to walk out, not expecting a reply from him.

"You're early." He stated indifferently.

"I woke up early. Bad dream." She replied, closing the door behind her. Walking over to her desk she sat down and drank her tea before starting on the files that Naru had obviously placed on her desk this morning. Before she knew it almost the whole morning had passed.

"Mai. Tea." Came her bosses' voice from behind the door of his office.

Sighing and shaking her head in faint amusement she stood and headed to the kitchen to prepare another pot of tea for Naru. Tea in hand she made her way to his office to find the door already open. Shrugging she walked in and placed a new cup of tea on his desk, removing his old cup and returning it to the kitchen.

_'I wonder when our next case is. Bit of a slow day today.'_ She thought, returning to her desk.

Suddenly the phone rang.

Mai grabbed the phone quickly before Naru could say anything.

"Shibuya Psychic Research, Mai Taniyama speaking. How may I help you?" She said into the phone.

"Yeah, hi. My name is Sakura Akimoto. I, uh, have a ghost problem. Can you help?" came the soft reply.

"Of course." She replied.

"It's urgent. Uh, argh! STOP THAT YOU STUPID GHOST!" the girl screamed, causing Mai to pull the phone away from her ear slightly but not before hearing the distinctive smash of china being broken.

"Ms Akimoto, are you alright?" Mai asked, bringing the phone back to her ear.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I have a rather active ghost. How soon can I get an appointment?" she replied.

"I see. Let me check." Mai said, taking a look at the appointment book. "I can fit you in tomorrow at one o'clock. Is that alright?"

"Yes, perfect. Thank you." Sakura Akimoto replied.

"Not a problem Ms Akimoto. See you tomorrow."

"Alright, bye. NOT MY GOOD CHINA YOU STUPID GHOST! ARGH!" she yelled and as Mai hung up she heard more china smashing. She sighed setting the phone down. The rest of the day passed in a blur and before she knew it, it was time for the office to close up.

Mai wondered how such a slow starting day could have passed so quickly. Shaking her head she prepared her dinner before heading to bed, hoping she wouldn't have another bad dream. Lack of sleep was the last thing she needed.

**A/N: Sorry if this was a bit boring. I'm hoping I'll be able to make the next chapter a little more exciting. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Again, constructive criticism is appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I should have done this with the first chapter but I didn't so, I apologise in advance for any OOCness.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

_A rustle of satin sheets. A key in the lock. Click. A door opening. Closing._

_A young woman walked down the hall at a moderate pace, glancing behind her every few minutes. The swish of a long silk dress brushing against the floor with each footstep. The woman has long ebony hair and delicate features set in a pale heart shaped face. The large oak door ahead of her became closer, decorated with wrought iron patterns meant for strength and protection. There is no protection from what is after her._

_She slid the key into the lock. Click. She sweeps outside, locking the door behind her. It is a beautiful night. A full moon with stars twinkling merrily. The nocturnal animals going about their business. Malevolent eyes watched the young woman as she scurried down the path towards the garden rather than following the gravel to the beach._

Not enough time. Never enough time.

_In the distance the waves could be heard crashing against the nearby cliffs. Storm clouds gather on the horizon, unnoticed by the young woman. She desperately searches for a safe haven, the place where she can remain undisturbed in peace. After a few minutes searching she finally finds a place amongst the flora and fauna. She sits, releasing a sigh of relief not realising the danger she has tried to escape is right behind her._

_Malevolent eyes glint in the dark behind her as an axe is raised. It whistles through the air before connecting with her neck, a dull thud and the woman's head falls to the ground. Her twitching, headless body slumps forward also falling to the ground. Clouds roll in quickly and rain pours down, thunder crashes and lightning flashes as a triumphant laugh is let loose. Morbid delight shows on the face with the malevolent eyes. The man examines his work and grins._

_"SHE IS DEAD!" he howls in glee and the storm continues around him._

Mai woke with a jolt, sweat drenching her body. She looks at the clock and sighs.

_3.30am. Again._

Since it happened the night before she doesn't see the point in trying to fall asleep again knowing it'll be a futile effort. Getting out of her bed she grabs her Dream Journal before walking to her kitchen for a cup of tea and breakfast. After writing down the details of her dream and finishing her early breakfast she heads to the bathroom for a long shower.

When she's dried and dressed she looks at the clock again.

_Only 4.45am. Still plenty of time._

Shaking her head she sits at the kotatsu and contemplates what the dreams may mean and why she is having them. Before long it was time for her to leave.

_Later that day…_

"Hello, I'm Sakura Akimoto. This is Shibuya Psychic Research, right? I have an appointment for one o'clock." A young woman said, standing in the office door.

"Yes, come in and take a seat. Mr Shibuya will be with you momentarily." Mai said, indicating the couches. Sakura sat as Mai walked over to Naru's office. Knocking on the door before speaking,

"Naru, we have a client." The door opened and he passed her by, moving to sit on the couch across from Sakura but not before telling Mai to get some tea. When Mai had returned with the tea, Lin was sitting next to Naru. Sakura smiled at Mai, thanking her for the cup of tea.

"Now tell us, what's the problem?" Naru asked.

"Well, I have a rather active ghost. I live in a fairly large house by myself. It's about an hour out of the city. The house is old and was left to me by my aunt who passed away a few years ago although I know for a fact that she's not the ghost."

"How do you know it isn't your aunt?" Naru asked.

"Sometimes I can see her but not always." Sakura replied, to which Naru just nodded before gesturing for her to continue.

"Every time I'm out of the house and then return home I'll find all my furniture in different places or upside down. Every time I'm at home, I'll randomly see my china floating around out of the cupboards and then there are times when I see her throwing my china out the door, smashing it. I've spent more money on new china than I have new clothes. When I sleep, generally I'll wake up somewhere other than my bedroom, like in the living room. There was one instance when I woke up outside on the back lawn. My cat hisses and growls at nothing in particular. Just recently I've heard giggling, whispering and knocking noises." Sakura explained.

"Are you sure you don't sleepwalk? That is a common cause of waking up somewhere you weren't when you went to sleep." Naru said.

"No, I've never sleepwalked. Besides, I'm usually still on my mattress." Sakura replied.

"Do you know what the whispers say?" Naru asked.

"Um, I think it's something like _'play with me'_. There are others but I don't remember what they say or they're too faint to hear." Sakura shrugged, an unsure look on her face.

"You said you can see her sometimes. Can you describe her?"

"Yes, she's young. No younger than about eight but no older than eleven. When I do see her she's wearing a dress and has pigtails in her hair. When I don't see her, I can still sense her. Like I know she's there. It's odd." The girl replied.

"It's not odd for someone who is psychic or spiritually sensitive." Naru said to her.

"You think I'm spiritually sensitive Mr Shibuya?" she asked, surprised.

"It is a possibility. We can do a test later." He replied.

"Oh, okay then. So will you take the case?" She asked with a pleading look on her face, similar to the one Mai wears on occasion.

"Yes. We'll need two rooms for sleeping and another for our base. I'll leave my assistant to collect the details." Naru said with a slight sigh before going back to his office. Lin followed suit, leaving Mai to deal with the clients details.

"We'll be there tomorrow at 10am, Ms Akimoto." Mai informed the girl as she wrote down the details. Sakura nodded before picking up her things and turning to Mai a final time.

"Thank you Ms Taniyama. Oh and before I forget, please call me Sakura. It's better than being all formal." The girl said with a smile.

"Of course Sakura and you can call me Mai." Mai replied, returning the smile.

As soon as Sakura had walked out of the office, Mai went back to her work. Or at least she tried to.

"Mai, Tea. Oh and call everyone except Ms Hara, I don't think we'll need her for this case. Tell them to be here at 9am." Naru called from his office.

"Alright." She replied, walking to the kitchen.

xxx

_The next day…_

Even though Mai didn't have another of those dreams, which were starting to become frequent, she was still early. Lin, Naru and Mai had finished packing up the van by eight thirty and were waiting for the others to arrive. The next twenty five minutes passed in a blur. The door suddenly slammed open.

"Mai!" Monk yelled as he burst through the door and pulled her into a suffocating bear hug.

"Monk, put her down!" Ayako yelled, coming in behind him and promptly hitting him over the head with her handbag.

"Sorry, Mai." Monk said, releasing the girl.

"Hi guys!" Mai said happily as she managed to catch her breath.

"Enough. Let's get going." Naru said.

The group walked out of the office, Naru locking it behind them all, and made their way to their respective vehicles; Lin, Naru and Mai in the SPR van and John, Ayako and Yasu in Takigawa's car. The trip to Sakura's place took an hour, which Naru spent reading the case file. When they did arrive they found Sakura waiting at the door.

"Hello Mr Shibuya, Mai. I take it this is the rest of your team?" She greeted them with a smile.

"Yes. This is Lin Koujo, Ayako Matsuzaki, Hōshō Takigawa, John Brown and Osamu Yasuhara." Naru said, introducing the group.

"It's nice to meet you all. Follow me, I'll show you the rooms." She said, walking inside. The team followed her into the house.

The house itself was a moderate size. There were five bedrooms including the master bedroom with en-suite bathroom, an office, a large living room, a moderate kitchen and dining room, a small library, main bathroom and laundry. Each room was elegantly yet simply designed. From the front door was a spacious foyer area; off to the side of the foyer was a set of stairs which led up to the bedrooms. A short hallway led down to the living room which dominated the back of the house on the ground floor and off to the right of the living room was the kitchen and dining room, to the left was the main bathroom and laundry combination. Next to the bathroom was the library which doubled as a games room. On the top floor was a square mezzanine, with a short hallway off to one side, which looked over the foyer at the front of the house. There were two parallel walls, both had two doors while just down the short hallway there were two doors across from each other, one leading to the master bedroom. All in all it was a magnificent house considering its size.

_'At least I won't be able to get lost in this house.'_ Mai thought, chuckling.

"This house is quite beautiful and rather simply set out too." Ayako commented as they all reached the mezzanine.

"Yes it is. It's the main reason I live here despite the fact that I live alone. Now, my room is the one at the front on the left. The master bedroom is off limits since it's where I keep all my aunts possessions other than that you can choose which rooms you want to sleep in and I'd recommend you use the office for your base. It's the room in the middle on the right." Sakura agreed before explaining about the rooms.

"Alright, we'll use the three rooms on the right. The girls will sleep in the room at the front right and the guys will sleep in the room at the back right. Now we need to unpack." Naru said, walking into the office/base room.

Mai and Lin started bringing in the equipment and setting up. When that was done Mai went and grabbed her suitcase and put it into the bedroom designated to her and Ayako.

"Mai, tea." Naru called to her from base. Mai sighed and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. As she waited for the kettle to boil she heard a quiet giggle and a whisper as the temperature dropped a few degrees.

_"Here you go."_ Said the voice as the tea started to float towards her with a spoon. Mai looked surprised.

"Oh, thank you. Who are you?" Mai asked as the tea and spoon were set on the bench next to her.

_"I'm Yuriko Nakata. Who are you? I only know Sakura."_ The voice replied.

"I'm Mai Taniyama. I better get back to my boss." Mai said, with a smile as she finished making the tea.

_"Mai, can I come with you? I'm so lonely."_ Yuriko asked as Mai started to walk away from the kitchen. She paused at the door before replying.

"Of course you can Yuriko."

Mai and the ghostly Yuriko went back to the base. When Mai arrived everyone noticed the sudden drop in temperature and turned to look at Mai as she set the cup of tea down in front of Naru. She straightened up and noticed everyone looking at her.

"What?" she asked, curious as to why everyone was looking at her.

"The temperature dropped when you walked in with Kazuya's tea. The ghost must be around." John responded.

"Oh, you mean Yuriko." Mai clarified.

"Yuriko?" Monk asked.

_"That would be me. I'm Yuriko Nakata."_ A voice said as a young girl appeared next to Mai, making the room significantly colder.

"Yasu, go and find out what you can about this property and Yuriko Nakata." Naru said.

"Sure thing, boss." Yasu replied leaving the room.

"John and Takigawa I want you to set up cameras in each room. Mai and Ayako I want you to record the temperatures in each room." Naru ordered. They all nodded while Mai sighed.

_"Mai, what are you guys here for?"_ Yuriko asked and as everyone left to do their jobs, Mai and Ayako stood outside of the base talking to Yuriko.

"We're a team called Shibuya Psychic Research or SPR for short. We're ghost hunters." Mai replied a little sadly.

_"Why are you sad?"_ Yuriko asked.

"You're a ghost, Yuriko." Mai sighed and Ayako looked at her with a sympathetic smile.

_"Oh. So you're here to get rid of me then."_ Yuriko's voice replied sadly.

"Not necessarily. Sakura wants us to find out what's going on basically. All her china is being thrown outside and smashed among other things." Mai said.

_"That's not me. I've only ever tried to help Sakura. If it's any help, there is something else here besides me. I don't know what though, I'm a ghost or spirit and even I don't know what it is. All I know is that it's been causing Sakura a lot of trouble."_ Yuriko replied.

"Well that will definitely help. Now we really have to get our job done or our boss is going to be mad." Mai told her. Yuriko nodded and disappeared, letting them get on with their work.

Mai and Ayako quickly got their job done before returning to base. They were slightly surprised to find Sakura sitting at one of the tables in the middle of the room, a look of shock adorning her face. Mai went and sat next to her while Ayako sat at another table closer to the door.

"What's going on?" Mai asked Sakura gently.

"Mr Shibuya had me take a test. I found out that I'm psychic. That's why I can see the young girl." She replied, blinking slowly.

_"You can see me, Sakura?"_ Yuriko said, making the rooms temperature drop a bit.

"Who are you? Are you the one that's destroying my things?" Sakura asked.

_"No, I'm not the one doing that. I'm Yuriko Nakata."_ Yuriko replied.

"I used to have an imaginary friend called Yuriko when I was a child." Sakura replied wistfully.

_"That was me."_ Yuriko replied.

Mai shared a glance with Naru and Lin, understanding dawning in their eyes. Mai stood and went to make a cup of tea for everyone, knowing that John and Monk would be finished soon and that Sakura could do with one to help her get over her shock.

As she walked down the stairs she felt a sharp tug on her ankle causing her to fall and land on the floor at the bottom of the staircase.

"OW!" Mai cried out, making Ayako, Sakura and Naru come running. They all saw her lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs before hurriedly making their way down. As they did so a smash could be heard from the kitchen.

"Mai, what happened?" Ayako asked, quickly checking for bruises.

"I was going to make some tea and something tugged on my ankle and made me fall." She replied, wincing as Ayako examined her ankle and sure enough there was a bruise shaped in a handprint starting to form.

"Hmm, well there is slight bruising on your ankle but other than that I don't think there is anything else wrong. You'll have other bruises from tumbling down the stairs but they should disappear in a few days. You'll be fine." Ayako said, making the others sigh in relief.

"I think maybe we should check the kitchen. I heard things smashing." Mai said, getting to her feet and heading down the hall. Sakura and Ayako went with her while Naru rolled his eyes and went back to base.

_'Clumsy idiot.'_ He thought.

**A/N: This chapter was really hard to write. Sorry for any mistakes or OOCness. Anyway please R&R. It's much appreciated.**


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